A native of Shawano, Wis., General Leaf earned his commission as a distinguished graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Air Force ROTC program in 1974. He commanded a flight, two squadrons, an operations group and two fighter wings, and has directed joint operations.

In 1995, General Leaf served as the J-3 for Joint Task Force-Southwest Asia and flew the F-15C over Southern Iraq enforcing U.N. sanctions on the Saddam Hussein regime. He deployed to Incirlik Air Base, Turkey, with one of his 20th Fighter Wing squadrons in 1998 and flew the F-16CJ on Operation Northern Watch suppression of enemy air defense missions over Northern Iraq. During Operation Allied Force, General Leaf commanded the 31st Air Expeditionary Wing, which included F-16CG, F-16CJ, F-15E, F-117A, A-10A and EC-130 aircraft squadrons. He flew and led F-16CG day and night combat missions against fixed and mobile targets in Serbia and Kosovo. During Operation Iraqi Freedom, he served as the Director, Air Component Coordination Element with the Coalition Land Forces Component Commander in Kuwait and Iraq. In that role, he served as the Air Component Commander's direct representative to the Land Commander during planning and initial major combat operations.

Prior to his current assignment, General Leaf was Vice Commander, Air Force Space Command, Peterson Air Force Base, Colo. He is a command pilot with more than 3,600 flying hours, including Allied Force, Joint Forge, Northern Watch and Southern Watch combat missions.

OTHER ACHIEVEMENTS
1975 Distinguished graduate, Flying Training Award and Air Training Command's Commander's Trophy, undergraduate pilot training
1983 Outstanding Company Grade Officer of the Year, Pacific Air Forces
1993 Secretary of the Air Force Leadership Award, Air War College
1999 Air Force Public Affairs Special Achievement for Commander Support Award

PUBLICATIONS
"Establishment and Evolution of Air-to-Air Weapons System Evaluation Programs," Army Command and General Staff College thesis, 1988
"The Future of Close Air Support," Military Review, 1988
"Unity of Command and Interdiction," Air University Press, 1993
"Acceptable Risk Planning Factor," Air-Land-Sea Applications Agency Bulletin, 1994